VQM Fall Exhibits

On Saturday Sue and Elizabeth attended the Celebration of Modern Quilting at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA, and also had the opportunity to see all of the current exhibits.

The event included viewing the exhibit including demos, lunch, and a presentation by Violet Craft. 

The Heritage Revisited exhibit, curated by Susan Emory of Swirly Girl Designs, is on the main floor of the museum.  Here is Sue next to her quilt "Primary Improv" - the red, yellow, blue and green piece to her right. It's a wonderful exhibit that provides an interesting contrast to the historic architecture of the museum. The quilts juried into the exhibit are examples of work in the following categories - improvisational pieces, use of negative space, foundation piecing, alternate gridwork and applique.

Above is an opportunity quilt designed by Susan Emory called "Seeds of Color".  It includes alternate grid work, improvisational quilting, applique, and foundation piecing.  Tickets for an opportunity to win this quilt are $1 each; the drawing for a winner will be on December 16.  Tickets can be purchased at the museum or on the website.

After a boxed lunch, we attended the presentation by Violet Craft.  Violet is a fabric and pattern designer from Portland, OR, who is active in the modern quilt movement. She shared her journey into the quilt industry and progression to where she is today, beginning with a children's clothing line, venturing into fabric design, and of course quilt design.  She has licensed some of her children's patterns to Indygo Junction and the photo above shows some of her "Forest Abstraction" pattern designs.  She has recently transitioned from designing for Michael Miller fabrics to Robert Kaufman. It's always interesting to hear how others have found their way into the quilt industry, often starting out in a completely unrelated field.

Back at the museum, we finished our tour of the exhibits.  A small room on the main floor held some "Treasures from the Vault", including the Belle Grove Album Quilt above (1991).  This was the museum's first fund raising quilt, which raised over $20,000 for the start of the museum.  It was designed by Anna Holland, hand appliqued by sixty quilters across Virginia, and hand quilted by Margie Hockman. The quilt was won by the Skyline Quilters Guild of Front Royal who donated it to the museum's permanent collection.

An outstanding exhibit on the 2nd floor is called "13 Perspectives" by the New Image Artists, a fiber group from the Washington, DC area. The photo above features a group of 8" mounted quilts showing the artists "Eye-dentity", each square created from their own unique perspective.  The pieces in this collection curated by Trudi Van Dyke run the gamut from figurative to abstract, wall art to 3D display pieces, all very intriguing. "Mastery of traditional as well as innovative techniques and materials provide a rich tapestry of visual excitement and stretch the definition of quilting."  It is well worth the trip to see this exhibit.

The final exhibit is the work of Pat Sloan, fabric and pattern designer.  This collection traces her evolving style of work over her career as a quilter.  Her signature pieced style combined with applique is evident in most of the pieces.  But also included are some more traditional as well as improvisational pieces.  It's a treat to be able to see a well-known quilter's work up close.

Not to be left out is the gift shop which contains an eclectic and ever changing array of gift items (for yourself or a friend!).  The photo above includes some pieces created by the artists of the 13 Perspectives exhibit.

We hope you will have the opportunity to make a trip to the Virginia Quilt Museum while these exhibits are up through Dec. 16.  It's great to have such a wonderful resource in our state, and always a treat to be able to make a visit.  And if you are so inclined, donations are welcome.  The museum does not receive any funding from the state, so depends on its membership, visitors, and donations to continue its mission to preserve our quilt history and share the art of quilting.